What readers think of A Fever in the Heartland, plus links to write your own review.

This is a tough one to review because A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND is a masterpiece of nonfiction about the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s. But it contains some implications, which the author, Timothy Egan, has discussed a bit during author appearances I have listened to online, that are a stretch.

No one can doubt the facts Egan writes about. Everything really did happen; it is well documented.

D.C. Stephenson rose to power in the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s in Indiana, where most of the population was white and protestant, the Ku Klux Klan ideal. He was a smooth talker, but he was also a monster.

A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND notes several stories of people who tried to take down the Ku Klux Klan. But no one did. Than Madge Oberholtzer finally got them with her deathbed testimony of her nightmare experience with Stevenson and his thugs. After that, the Ku Klux Klan, most notably in Indiana, all but disappeared.

Egan's writing is superb, and the story is unputdownable. But, although it is true that history repeats itself and that we should learn from history, Egan implies that some of the history of the Ku Klux Klan, such as hatred of immigrants, is happening again today. I take issue with that. What Is happening today is resentment, not hatred, of people who illegally rush into this country. That is not hatred of immigrants.

So much of this history I didn't know, and maybe you didn't know either. I urge you to pick it up. It might make you feel smarter.

Thought this book indicated how easy it was then and how it is possible today to get caught up with hate and racism. Should be required reading. This is not ancient history. If it could happen 70 years ago it could happen today.

This is a chilling and riveting read of the KKK in the 1920’s. A work of narrative nonfiction. Timothy Egan writes a compelling nonfiction excellent book that all should read. I’m sure, this book too will be banned, if not already.

The Klan was resurrected in the early 1900’s and one man in particular from Indiana becomes so powerful that he actually controls the state on all levels. D. C. Stevenson is a maniacal monster who has an evil charisma that allows for him to come in, and in a manner of short time take over the state of Indiana. Everyone from governor, police, ministers, judges and more were owned by Stevenson. He owned the state and he become a powerful Grand Dragon of all the Klan in the country. He was meticulously planning to live in the White House and this is terrifying.

One woman, Madge Oberholtzer, who was kidnapped, beaten and tortured by him was able to halt the Klan on her deathbed.

I thought I knew what the KKK is, but it is so much worse and mind boggling. There are too many parallels of this horrible time and what is presently going on in our country today. We need a wake-up call people, because there is definitely a pattern here.

This book is terrifying. It is the stuff of nightmares. And it's such an extraordinary and important history book that it should be required reading for everyone.

When you think of the Ku Klux Klan, you likely think of the deep South. Think again. This is the story of what happened in the early 1920s in Indiana, the quintessential flag-waving, apple-pie center of America's Heartland, which had more sworn Klansmen than any other state and three times as many as Georgia.

Lawmakers, from the governor on down, as well as police officers, industry leaders, newspaper editors, and even ministers were all Klansmen and under the control of the KKK and specifically the Indiana Grand Dragon, David C. Stephenson, a grifter, psychopath, and charismatic conman from Texas. Their hate-filled, horrific activities extended not only to Blacks, but also Jews and Roman Catholics.

While Stephenson was the public face of Klan "values"—most notably abstention from alcohol and protection of the sanctity of women—he was something quite different in private. While leading Indiana citizens kowtowed to him, Stephenson had a sexual secret: He enjoyed raping and torturing women through cannibalistic sex where he would chew their skin, almost trying to eat them alive. None of his victims ever reported the crime. After all, almost every cop, prosecutor, and judge in the state were part of the Klan and under Stephenson's iron fist. Where would they find justice?

Written by Timothy Egan, this is the story of Stephenson's sadistic reign of terror in Indiana from 1921 to 1925. He thought he was the reincarnation of Napolean, hoodwinked everyone, telling lies about his life that he uttered so often that he even believed them. He was an expert at planting fake news—from whispered suggestions to outright lies—that soon were treated as the truth. With the enthusiastic backing of the Republican party, Stephenson built a white-sheeted organization of hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers who pledged to support white supremacy. If you weren't part of the KKK, then you were an outsider and not to be trusted. He even formed KKK organizations for women and children. Stephenson had plans to close the borders to immigrants, and he had his eye on the White House. Just think what he could do as president or manipulating someone else who served as his puppet in the Oval Office.

But then, quite suddenly, the all-powerful Grand Dragon was stopped cold by a 28-year-old woman named Madge Oberholtzer. A college graduate, schoolteacher, and member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, Oberholtzer was Stephenson's last victim of cannibalistic sex, rape, and torture. In the middle of the two-day excruciating experience when Stephenson kidnapped her, Madge tried to commit suicide by ingesting a poison, but it was a very slow-acting poison. She died 29 days later from a combination of the injuries inflicted by Stephenson and the poison. That was enough time for her to tell her tale of horror to her parents, her best friend, her physician, and her family's attorney as they surrounded her deathbed. It was Madge—well, the ghost of Madge—who brought down D.C. Stephenson when no one else could. It was Madge who exposed the Klan and its Grand Dragon for what they really were.

Oh, what a chilling and compelling tale this is! While Egan is a born storyteller, he is also a prodigious researcher, turning this sordid bit of history into a page-turning thriller.

A small warning: Many of the details in this book are gruesome and graphic. You'll need a tough stomach to read these parts.

"A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them" helps one with only a working knowledge of the KKK figure out how they were so popular in the 1920s. You will find most political rhetoric familiar, but knowing that the group wielded such power may shock you.

Reading about the Klan's rhetoric, you can't help but recognize the familiar pattern of scapegoating. The Klan's strategy was simple: you were either with them or against them. The establishment of a common enemy was crucial to their mission. It's a tactic that still resonates in today's political landscape, serving as a cautionary tale.

The Klan, despite its proclaimed values, exhibited a striking hypocrisy, engaging in the very vices it condemned. The influential figures in the group held sway over society, echoing Will Rogers' observation: "It is the most religion preached and the least practiced." You should be tuned into different news channels if this doesn't resonate.

The action starts at about the halfway point, in which we read about a devastating rape, kidnapping, and assault. Reading about rape never gets more accessible or less shocking. The legal proceedings that fellow show that men in power have been getting away with atrocities for generations. Like a good crime drama, you expect a cheerful ending but cannot see how it is possible when you recognize the breadth of control Grand Dragons indeed possesses.

The legal proceedings remind you of how hard it is to convict men in power. When the word of others holds so much weight, people stand up about the legal burden of proof. The trial reminded me that hearing about reasonable doubt is the biggest necessary evil in our society. Any police procedural teaches that painful lesson in hour-long stints.